In the longFor The Record series covering WikiLeaks, the Arab Spring and U.S. intelligence support for Brotherhood ascension in the Middle East, we examined this complex development and forecasts that the ultimate culmination of these events would be nuclear war in the Middle East, the extermination of Israel, the destruction of the Obama administration and the demise of the United States itself.

Note that the Egyptian army has collaborated with Islamists in attacks on the country’s Christian Coptic minority, and that the army/Brotherhood alliance apparently dates to last April.

EXCERPT: . . . . Despite protestations of its purported political neutrality Egypt’s besieged military leadership has been secretly funneling financial, food, and security support to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and its allied Salafist parties in the run up to next week’s parliamentary elections.

The assistance takes the form of “walk around” money, clothing and food giveaways secretly funneled to the coffers of the Brotherhood’s front party — the Freedom and Justice Party, the Construction and Development Party, as well as to allied Salafist Parties, including Al Nour, Al-Asalah, Al-Fadilah, Al Islah and others — in a bid to buy votes and provide Islamist parties a military supported upper hand in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The military leadership has not only channeled financial support to the Islamists, it has also secretly collaborated with Salafists who have attacked Copts throughout Egypt in a show of support for more punitive discriminatory acts against Egypt’s Coptic minority to curry further favor with Salafists. Hundreds of Copts were attacked by unknown assailants en route to Cairo’s Tahrir Square on November 18th the second night of demonstrations this month while security forces stood by. This latest attack comes in the wake of October’s attack by the army which used live fire and drove military vehicles into a crowd of Copts protesting a rash of attacks on Copts and Coptic churches, killing 25 innocent protestors.

According to information obtained from a reliable European military intelligence source with whom I met in Turkey a few days ago, an emissary of The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) met secretly with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist oriented political movements last April to establish local political “action committee” bank accounts to funnel an underground supply chain of financial and commodity support to local Islamist political organizations throughout Egypt outside the prying eyes of Cairo-based media. Hundreds of local Islamist political organization chapters throughout Egypt have been buying votes courtesy of military provided financial and food handouts. . . .

Discussion

17 comments for “Egyptian Army and Muslim Brotherhood Join Forces”

Sad news to be sure, but one can only hope that the Egyptian people will eventually wake up to these SOBs as well as the Mubaraks and the al-Assads out there.

Look at it this way, folks: The Tea Party was a fascist-sponsored movement that tried to pull similar shenanigans here in the States. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, they too, are religious far-right pro-fascist fanatics. They, too, managed to win significant influence in an election(2010). But here’s the thing: Already, only a year after their election, there has been a significant backlash against them, and many are waking up, even some conservatives!
Things may take a little longer in Egypt but if we Americans can start to wake up, then there is hope…….

…
Final results from the round, which covered nine of Egypt’s 27 provinces, will be issued Thursday night. The Brotherhood appeared convinced it surpassed already high expectations. Saleh, for example, boasted the group won 50 percent. But the true extent of its win was not yet known. In rural provinces in particular, the main party of the ultraconservative Islamist Salafis, who are more hard-line than the Brotherhood, appeared to do surprisingly well, cutting into the Brotherhood vote. In other places, the main liberal-secular grouping made a strong showing.

…

Saleh, who ran as a Brotherhood candidate in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria and was heavily favored to win, said the ruling council must coordinate with the parliament. “The public mood in Egypt now is against dictatorship,” he said.

He spoke of the Brotherhood as the majority force that must be allowed to shape the next stages. He boasted that the group won 50 percent of the vote and “this percentage will be higher in the future.”

Saleh said the Brotherhood would seek a broad government including liberal parties, not a strictly “Islamist” coalition with the Salafis.

“We seek diversity because we believe that we don’t live alone in Egypt. We will be the core of moderation in parliament,” he said. “If the extremists want to go too far to the right, they will find themselves alone in this corner.”

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the country’s economic woes can be solved by the “culture of martyrdom, the Mehr news agency reported.

“If we want to build the country, maintain our dignity and solve economic problems, we need the culture of martyrdom,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in a speech on Wednesday in the western city of Hamedan.

He described martyrdom, dying or being killed for one’s religious beliefs, as “a quick and shortcut way to reach the summit of salvation.”

He did not say how becoming a martyr would help the economy, which is struggling from high inflation.

The president was speaking a day after ousted economy minister Davoud Danesh Jaafari became the latest person to launch a withering attack on him for his unconventional economic policies.

Ahmadinejad has been criticised for pumping excessive liquidity into the economy to fund infrastructure projects, causing huge money supply growth and triggering Iran’s current inflation of around 18 percent.

However, critics believe the real inflation rate exceeds 25 percent, and have accused Ahmadinejad of making unscientific decisions in economic matters.

Ahmadinejad rejects such criticism.

“When we insisted on cutting bank interest rates some objected and said this is not scientific, but we tell them that if they are not men of justice, they had better clear the way and leave,” he was quoted on Thursday by the Etemad Melli newspaper as saying.

Last year, Ahmadinejad slashed interest rates of state and private banks to 12 percent, triggering a sudden demand for loans that economists blame for adding further expansionary heat to an already inflationary economy.

The Central Bank of Iran, headed by Tahmasb Mazaheri, is arguing for an increase in interest rates.

In his remarks on Wednesday, former economy minister Jaafari said “during my time, there was no positive attitude towards previous experiences or experienced people and there was no plan for the future.

“Most of the scientific economic concepts like the effect of liquidity on inflation were put in question,” he said.

…

So Ahmedinejad first blew a financial bubble on easy money and crony government contracts, then engaged in “unconventional” economic policies while the bubble burst, calling for an econo-Jihad and slashing rates while the banks engaged in a free-money trades for use in speculative investments? Actually Egypt might need to find another finance minister because I think Mahmoud is just what the ECB ordered!

And scarily enough, his pro-inflationary policies at the time might actually be an improvement now…minus Mahmoud’s “kill yourself for your religious beliefs” stimulus policy. That’s one policy approach we don’t want to see returning to the eurozone.

Farid Zahran, a leading member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, says Islamists are committing a range of electoral violations
Ahram Online, Monday 28 Nov 2011

In statements to Ahram Online, Farid Zahran, a leading member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP) accused the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists of committing wide-scale violations of the parliamentary vote, including ballot stuffing.

Zahran expressed his shock that the Brotherhood, which had suffered repression and vote rigging in previous elections, should now pursue the same tactics that were used against them by the Mubarak regime, to improve the electoral lot of their Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).

According to Zahran, fully veiled women supporters of the FJP and the Salafist parties have been refusing to reveal their faces or to dip their fingers in phosphoric ink, which allows to vote more than once. They have also been harassing non-veiled women.

Zahran also accused the MB of stuffing ballots in several voting stations in Luxor, Aswan and Fayoum. In some of these constituencies they also barred Coptic citizens from entering the polling stations to cast their votes.

The most prevalent violation of polling rules by the Islamist parties, according to Zahran, is their continuing campaigning in front of polling stations in open violation of the ban on campaigning 48 hours before the vote.

Thousands of MB “youth volunteers”, accuses Zahran, who have entered polling stations around the country ostensibly to help illiterate voters cast their ballots are directing these voters to vote for the FJP.

The poor organization of the voting process, the lack of sufficient balloting papers, the late opening of voting stations, says Zahran, have all contributed to irregularities that have already marred Egypt’s first post-Mubarak elections.

Perhaps this explains, in part, the “surprising” results for the Salafists? Well, at least they weren’t able to Diebold to the whole thing remotely. It could be worse.

CAIRO – The Muslim Brotherhood has already started coloring outside the lines in order to win a majority in Egypt’s parliamentary elections.
…

Based on our own observations at polling stations across Cairo and anecdotal evidence, they seem to have won support at the polls by bending the rules in their favor.

Free food and cheap meat
In Cairo’s Saida Zeinab neighborhood, at one of the busiest polling centers in the city, we saw a party member and two other supporters of an independent candidate passing out leaflets to voters waiting in long lines to cast their ballots – in clear violation of election laws. Soldiers who were on site for crowd control, did nothing to stop them. At the same spot, a tech-savvy FJP member sat on a bench, laptop in hand, to conduct exit polls. At other polling stations, they provided polling information to baffled voters.

In a more economically disadvantaged part of Cairo known as “The Slaughterhouse,” Hanan Nasr, a mother of three, watched FJP members pass out free packages of rice and oil to voters on their way to the polling station – again in contravention of campaign law. They also bused in party members from surrounding neighborhoods.

Voter confusion played into the hands of the FJP. Many voters simply did not know who the candidates were because of the sheer number of mostly unknown candidates (4,000), unknown parties (35 new ones since President Hosni Mubarak fell from power) and a complicated voting system requiring choices of farmer, labor and independent candidates.

For those who did not understand the voting system, the FJP had people on hand before the election to explain how to make their ballots count – for FJP candidates.

Although Nasr voted for a liberal party, her son, Ali, opted for the only party he was familiar with, the FJP. Some FJP members had been signing up voters in Nasr’s neighborhood in the run up to the election and distributed free school supplies. And before the recent Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice holiday, the one time of year when everybody in Egypt must have meat to celebrate the holiday, the FJP sold meat at half the market price to Cairo’s many disadvantaged.

Clearly, the FJP struck a chord with voters. Most of those we spoke to said they were voting FJP because they were well organized, helped the poor, and would uphold religious law.

Shifting promises
In the wake of the revolution, the FJP initially promised to compete for only 30 percent of parliamentary seats, in order not to frighten civil society and the interim military government. They gradually upped that figure to 100 percent.

Likewise, a promise not to field presidential candidates was soon broken. The FJP had joined a much larger political bloc of secular and religious parties running for president, but the alliance fell apart when the FJP tried to dominate party lists.

@Pterrafractyl: It’s like there building them to be easily “man-in-the-middle” attacked, setting them up as such.

“Johnston said the machine is “incredibly easy to tamper with” because all the crucial electronic components are accessible and can be easily modified. The Accuvote TS’ enclosure isn’t tamper resistant so hjackers can work on the machine without leaving visible signs, he added.”

I’m listening currently to AFA broadcasts Aryan Nations: Could such networks be deployed, on mass, to execute these “man in the middle” attacks?

@grumpusrex: Yeah, remotely hackable machines are pretty much the dream scenario because it’s so easy to hide your tracks and the culprits include anyone with an internet connection. It also raises the possibility of two or more independent groups (from wherever in the world) hacking and counter-hacking the same vote. Citizens United wasn’t the only recent trend that raised the possibility of foreign influence over US elections.

@Grumpus: You know, I’ve been wanting to ask a question like that for a long time now, and why the Aryan Nations and all the other fringe-right Establishment lackeys haven’t tried something already(or if they have but just haven’t succeeded yet).

Surprisingly, Germany has begun to show signs of nervosity toward the Muslim Brotherhood and is seeking to find ways to weaken its influence. The argument is that otherwise, the Middle East will become increasingly anti-western, and I agree. It is certainly interesting to watch such a reversal of situation. Here is an article by Foreign Policy and one of its source in German:

@Claude: Sadly, I suspect a big factor influencing the German elites’ attitude towards the Muslim Brotherhood and Middle Eastern stability in general will have a lot to do with their potential to profit from surging energy costs via the growing ties between Germany’s energy giants and Gazprom. And that applies to the rest of the EU. The evolution of the sharing of ownership/profits of the growing EU/Gazprom energy distribution infrastructure will be a story to watch going forward:

…
The company is making the most of its privileged status. The Russian monopolist, which is believed to control one sixth of the world’s natural gas reserves, has already carved out a 40 percent chunk of the German gas market. Now with Envacom, it appears hungry for even more.

The Wiesbaden-based company, to be renamed Gazprom Marketing and Trading Retail Germania, already sells electricity to 500,000 customers but has no experience in retail gas operations.

Tough negotiating partner

Gazprom says further acquisitions in Germany are under consideration. It has already established similar retail operations in Britain, Ireland, France and the Netherlands.

Yet, despite its growing presence in Germany and expanding retail operations in Europe, the Russian company has encountered a tough negotiating partner in the European Commission, which seeks to unbundle the gas pipeline infrastructure.

If Brussels gets its way, it would see Gazprom’s extensive pipeline infrastructure open up to competition. So far, Russia has said “nyet” to that idea.

With Gazprom quickly achieving EU market dominance, a conflict in the Middle East doubles as a helluva bonanza for EU energy oligarchs as long as they get to share in Gazprom’s spoils. It’s a looming crisis that could also do wonders for Putin’s desired “Eurasian Union”.

Then again, a reverse allegation would require the US establishment to take seriously the possibility of machine hacking or giant foreign-influence loopholes in our elections so I’m not holding my breath for a reverse allegation. Some topics are too taboo for me and you.

@Claude: IMHO, at the end of the day, it’ll all depend on who takes power in Germany. If the people who’ll help Underground Reich get in there then the MB will have just one more ally….but if an anti-elite party, or parties, is elected, then there may be a good chance that the MB may find itself with another enemy……

“There may even have been a time when a sincere Arab denunciation of the role of the grand mufti of Jerusalem in the Holocaust might have softened a heart or two. But that time is well in the past”
Christopher Hitchins -2010

In a 2012 report from The American Foreign Policy Council (*NOTE: A RIGHT-WING THINK TANK), Norman Bailey wrote:

”Since 2005, with Venezuela’s assistance, Iran has created an extensive regional network of economic, diplomatic, industrial and commercial activities, with significant effect. The sum total of Iran’s declared investments in the region now stands at some $20 billion.”

Kayson is one of the biggest private companies working in Venezuela, but it came under scrutiny by oppositional media when it was clear that it had ties with the Iranian government.

The company is owned by reformist technocrats, yet work closely with the current conservative government in Iran. When it comes to money-making machines, there seems to be no war between the political factions.

Last year, leftist oppositional media accused reformist politicians to have shares or ownership in Kayson and because of these benefits their relatives can easily go back and fourth to Iran without difficulty.

One of those ending up in the spotlight was Farrokh Negahdar, ex-leader of Fadaian Khalgh Organisation (Majority), who is now a main reformist figure abroad. He was accused to reap huge economic benefits and of being a conformist. Negahdar recently denied the accusation and said he is not the owner of the company but stated that one of his close relatives inside Iran owns it.

Last month, another scandal for the company emerged when Tahmaseb Mazaheri, Khatami’s economic minister and Iran’s former central bank chief, was interrogated at Dusseldorf airport by German police for not indicating that he carried a 300 million Bolivar cheque (equivalent of nearly $70 million). Kayson denied assumptions that any suspicious activities were behind the episode, saying Mazaheri merely transported the check as a favor to the company.

The incident brought more curiosity to the Kayson Company and its possible ties to the current Iranian government. At the same time reformists abroad, who have always warned the alternative movement to not go too far in its rhetoric and actions against the establishment, seems to believe the regime is capable of reform.

They write letters to Khamenei and put forward demands to the head of the judiciary to show they believe in the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.

Such political games, negotiations and lobbying make segments of the traditional Iranian opposition angry and ultimately dissatisfied with anything less then the overthrow of the regime and the establishment of a laïque democratic republic.

Kayson (Corporation) appears to be aligned with both Reformist and right-wing forces according to the article. In fact, if Kayson were a Western corporation, it would appear to be a CIA front for all its associations.

Iran is Shia Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood is Sunni.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, for all his low-IQ, knee-jerk alliances, (and Nicolas Maduro, his successor) existed in opposition to Underground Reich forces that dominate Venezuelan society, including the Venezuelan petroleum-intelligence community nexus that intersects with its U.S. counterpart.

The final question is the relevance of Mazaheri’s destination, Germany.